25 of the Best Nonfiction Books of All Time

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Book Riot, 25 Books

Senjuti Patra's article, published on December 13, 2022, showcases a selection of 25 nonfiction works that have profoundly influenced readers' understanding of the world. Initially inclined toward fiction, the author has transitioned to an enthusiastic appreciation for nonfiction, particularly titles that tackle significant and profound themes. This list, which deliberately excludes memoirs, autobiographies, and poetry to focus on other impactful genres, is described as a personal yet informed collection of readable and well-written works. It is acknowledged as not exhaustive, inviting readers to consider it a starting point for exploring complex ideas and knowledge.

This list was originally published in 2022 and was added to this site almost 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
9842 Nationalism Rabindranath Tagore 1917 Indian English
173 A Room of One's Own Virginia Woolf 1929 British English
450 Hiroshima John Hersey 1946 American English
162 Silent Spring Rachel Carson 1962 American English
807 The Fire Next Time James Baldwin 1963 American English
1687 Orientalism Edward W. Said 1978 Palestinian English
1616 Sister Outsider Audre Lorde 1984 American English
1137 The Unwomanly Face Of War Svetlana Alexievich 1985 Russian Russian
9139 Decolonising The Mind Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 1986 Kenyan English
1120 A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking 1988 British English
1699 The New Jim Crow Michelle Alexander 2010 American English
908 The Warmth Of Other Suns Isabel Wilkerson 2010 American English
1252 Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari 2011 Israeli Hebrew
2973 Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer 2013 American English
6783 Men Explain Things To Me Rebecca Solnit 2014 American English
1843 The Sixth Extinction Elizabeth Kolbert 2014 American English
11296 The Gene Siddhartha Mukherjee 2016 American English
10266 I Contain Multitudes Ed Yong 2016 British English
8046 The Anarchy William Dalrymple 2019 British English
12439 Figuring Maria Popova 2019 American English
10844 Invisible Women Caroline Criado Perez​​ 2019 British English
13971 Time's Monster Priya Satia 2020 American English
773 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft 1792 British English
180 On the Origin of Species Charles Darwin 1859 British English
553 The Souls of Black Folk W. E. B. Du Bois 1903 American English